Dr. Bennie E. Calloway, III

The term “low down dirty shame” is defined as beneath repute, skeevy, skanky, shady, sordid, nasty, dirty, and contemptuous. It can also be referred to a very unfortunate circumstance.

Jeroboam became King Solomon’s successor to the throne of Israel. He began as a servant to King Solomon and First Kings 12:28 says “And Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.”  He was a man that was very productive in his labour and very resourceful and exhibiting strength while doing so. These are exceptional qualities.

Jeroboam would become Solomon’s successor because of his idolatry of the gods of his wives who were not Israelites as a result of him turning his heart away from the Lord. During Solomon’s reign the Nation of Israel had peace round about them from their enemies but because of this king’s disobedience and departure from the Word of God the Lord began to judge him and raised up adversaries against him. As a result of a prophetic word from Ahijah the prophet, the Nation of Israel would be split into two kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom that consisted of 10 tribes Jeroboam would reign over and the Southern Kingdom that consisted of 2 tribes Solomon’s son Rehoboam would reign over. Of course, Jeroboam attempted to engage an insurrection against Solomon while on the throne and it incurred the king’s wrath and consequently, Jeroboam fled to Egypt for a time until the king died.

Once King Solomon died, there was a revolt against his son Rehoboam’s leadership as he assumed his duties as King and ten of the tribes withdrew from him and Jeroboam became the king of northern tribes of Israel. But during his reign he led the people into idolatry by building two golden calves for them to worship and claimed that these were the gods that led Israel out of Egypt. What a low down dirty shame! The expression concerning Jeroboam, “made Israel to sin,” is used 23 times during his reign as king. And this sin was idolatry when you create a god of your own making and then you worship it or them. You have done more for this god than this god can ever do for you. Jeroboam did not recall when his ancestors were guilty of the same sin when Moses went to Mount Sinai to receive the commandments of God and spent 40 days with the Lord when Aaron led the people in false worship by creating a molten calf of gold and made the same claim that this was the god that brought them out of Egypt according to Exodus 32:4.

What adds insult to injury during Jeroboam’s kingship, I Kings 12:31 says “…and made Priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.” I Kings 13:33 says “After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever he would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.” This King had been warned of his idolatry by two prophets Ahijah the Silonite in I Kings 11:29 and an unnamed prophet in I Kings 13:1 that his idolatrous activity would cost him his life and Israel’s downfall as a nation. And in our modern day churches particularly in America that I can speak of, there are all types of men and women that are being consecrated in sacred offices and leadership in our Lord’s church that are vile, profane, irreverent and ungodly and they endorse, activate, sanction, and promote idolatrous worship in the House of God by those who consecrate them as long as they are reaping the benefits of their position. They are unqualified, they do not study, pray, and consecrate themselves to be of use in the Lord’s Church and in his service and they use the ministry as a hustle for their own gain at the expense of the Lord’s people. What a low down dirty shame! Their agendas include but not limited to: money laundering, racketeering, whoredom, witchcraft, teaching false doctrine, persecution to leaders and laity that promote righteousness, entertainment, celebrity glorification, overtaxing congregants, nepotism, favoritism and the like. It’s a low down dirty shame!

I am grateful that the Lord doesn’t suffer from memory loss and these choices have their built in consequences. As it was then so it is now, there will be a day of reckoning. The Lord used the unnamed prophet in I Kings 13 to indicate that 350 years in the future that God would raise up King Josiah and in his reign he would eradicate idolatry from Israel and they would return to pure worship of the God of their Fathers. It is comforting to know that God is using men and women in 2023 that are eradicating false worship and idolatry from the House of God and returning the Lord’s people to pure worship of God the Father. Jesus wants his house to be known as the House of Prayer and no longer the House of Ill Repute!

Paul the Apostle was quoted in Romans 12:16 “Be of the same mind one toward another.  Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.“

To condescend is the Greek word synapago which means to yield or submit one’s self to lowly things and conditions, to take off together, i.e. transport with. In more practical terminology it means to waive the privileges of rank and enjoy the company of others regardless to their station in life. Be willing to adjust in various environments when certain cultures, traditions and customs are not like yours. Be adaptable and learn to think quick on your feet. I heard a beatitude that once said “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” Don’t function with so much rigidity one dimensionality until you think you’re too good to be in certain environments and around certain people when necessity may call for it. You might be doing well financially and socially but that’s no reason to look down on other people because of their current condition. Things may change for them and when people are up they will vividly remember how you treated them when they were down. If we were not born in wealth and among nobility you have had to work to arrive where you are and you haven’t always been where you are. Some individuals we encounter may in fact be on the journey we have been on and we have to leave room for empathy, compassion, and understanding by identifying with the struggle of others. Of course you don’t have to apologize for success or obtaining achievements but allow your conduct among others to be “others focused” and not “self-focused” if you want to be successful in building rapport and healthy relationships among those you encounter.

The last thing we need to be is condescending which is to have a superior attitude toward others. In layman’s terms, to look down your nose at someone else. In all facets of society, a condescending disposition is so prevalent among so called professional and spiritual individuals. Just because you work in a certain profession, hold a number of earned degrees, live in an exclusive neighborhood in your city of residence, drive a particular automobile and wear certain brands of clothing does not make you a better person than someone else. Of course only a condescending person will size themselves up to someone else to feel that they are better than someone else. This is an indication of inferiority complex. To belittle someone or speak to them in a tone of contempt reveals arrogance and egomania on the part of these condescending individuals. But we have to be mindful of the old adages “what goes up must come and down,” and “you could be up today and could be down tomorrow.” Watch your talk, watch your tone, watch your temper. You never know who you may need one day. The way some people are treated and talked to by others is unconscionable. The way one spouse will talk to another spouse, the way a supervisor will talk to an employee, the way a pastor will talk to his/her congregation, the way colleagues interact with one another, the way representatives of one ethnic group deals with representatives of another ethnic group. Our general society has lost the ability to practice people’s skills, decorum, respect for the dignity and intrinsic worth of human kind. Customer service representatives in local retail stores and restaurants treat customers with contempt and many times it’s in the reverse. It’s so refreshing to deal with people with manners and respect where they will actually greet strangers and initiate conversation if they know them or not. Sometimes the course of a person’s life can drastically change because for the first time in their lives someone is willing to condescend by treating them like a valuable human being that they are. It gives them hope among their depression, suicidal tendencies and overall frustration with the challenges of life. Remember the slogan Ellen Degeneres would use at the end of her talk show, Be Kind To One Another.

For many decades in the church world we have heard an emphasis placed on church growth whether through conferences, workshops, pastors and leaders summits and various types of facilitation from so called “known experts” in this arena. The goal is to increase numbers weekly in the pew with the objective to retain those who attend. I get that and I understand that. Having served the Lord’s church as a Pastor for 25 years and 30 years total in the ministry you want to see numerical increase among those you minister to. Who wouldn’t?

According to the laws of nature, increase is natural but decrease is unnatural. We have to be mindful that increase occurs internally before it manifests externally. The goal to recruit persons to physically gather in a worship setting can be a fruitless task if it ends there. In addition we have to make the distinction between churches that are swelling and churches that are growing. There are congregations that are “event driven” to bring people in for the event only in hopes of large offerings and media coverage to convince others they have sizeable crowds on a regular basis. If you decide to attend a Sunday or weekly service that’s not “event driven,” it reveals an entirely different story. The origin of swelling in the body often occurs from deficiencies of vitamins and nutrients necessary for the body that causes the body to become vulnerable for infection because the body has no defense for inflammation. The focus is on correction and not prevention. How many churches are not receiving a necessary spiritual diet that produces spiritual health that produces spiritual growth to prevent infection and inflammation that often occurs internally among that body?

American churches for the large part have what I call “heart monitor attendance,” the numbers are up and down. But in my three decades of ministry, I haven’t heard church leaders place any emphasis on “church health.” If there is no spiritual health among congregations there will be no spiritual growth. Health precedes and facilitates growth. Unless there is spiritual growth as a result of spiritual health emphasis, there will be no numerical, evangelistic, and resourceful growth. Spiritual health is seeing to it that believers understand who God the Father is and who they are as children of God in relation to the Father. We have been reconciled to God and we have the Ministry and Word of reconciliation and we are to spread those glad tidings around the planet letting all humanity know that they are to “BE” reconciled to God. To return to the Father’s favor and presence and conduct one’s life as such. In addition there must be an awareness of our state and standing with the Father coupled with the spiritual gifts we possess and the divine assignment we have been entrusted to complete on earth with those gifts activated for the specific target group we’re called to reach with the influence the Father has given us. The goal is to have complete well being in our spirit, mind and body. Spiritually healthy believers produce spiritually healthy churches.

Acts 2:42 gives us four directives for Church Health that will automatically produce Church Growth. “And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ Doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers.” As a result, the Lord’s Church went from being added to to increased in number daily to being multiplied. It’s obvious that we have abandoned apostolic teaching, spiritual fellowship, sharing our resources and becoming a spiritual family and Lord knows we are deficient in our individualized and corporate prayer lives. Once we recover these principles and put them into practice we can conclude that healthy churches will automatically become growing churches free of the infections of false doctrine, a wrong view of God, teaching and preaching law based messages instead grace based messages, being entertainment and event driven and focusing on the unnecessary and getting back to apostolic essentials. We no longer have to make up excuses not growing, it’s an indication we’re not healthy. We have to cease putting growth over health and place health over growth. When we become healthy, growth will be inevitable.

One of the things I’m quite fascinated by when I’m on social media is viewing how many alleged followers of Christ, particularly those in leadership, are always providing unsolicited commentary on cultural and social matters that are trending. Whether it was Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, Gospel Artist Kim Burrell making prejudicial statements, or Dr. Creflo Dollar’s teaching on tithing, the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade, or the pandemic, those who have the most to say in verbiage have the least to say in content. An empty wagon makes a lot of noise! There’s a distinct difference in saying something and having something to say. Who asked you?

Many alleged commentators lack the credentials, education, theological savvy and revelatory insight to address such matters at least with a balanced perspective. Many want to appear that they are profound, astute, and knowledgeable in areas where they are totally ignorant! You can’t fight in a heavyweight boxing match if the scale reveals you’re a lightweight. There are many who desire a heavyweight platform with a lightweight message. Their lack of intelligence, insight, grammar proficiency and communication skills doesn’t make the weight! It’s a religious spirit that’s condemnatory, opinionated, bigoted and shallow when they don’t even know these people! At the end of the day, does your shallow comments even matter? Will they add to or take away from the quality of our lives. Who asked you?

Most religious people are not well rounded and do have a narrow worldview. And what I find slightly embarrassing is that these commentators arising from ethnic communities of the darker hue are spending time debating and become the amusement of other communities who say, “There they go again.”

During the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry, there were so many cultural and societal shiftings that were taking place. If you notice, Jesus never addressed any of those issues unless HE WAS ASKED!!! And when He was asked, He spoke only as He could with tact and balance. Of course, many would inquire of Jesus to see if they get an answer from Him that would lean toward their preferences and prejudices or provoke anarchy from him against the Roman Government. For example, Jesus was being provoked to speak against the Roman Emperor about overtaxing the Jews in Palestine and being asked his thoughts should Jews withhold their taxes for their hatred of the Romans and their governing dominance. Jesus knew he was being tempted and replied in Mark 12:17 “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marveled at Him.”

 Titus 1:15-16 says “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them who are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” A defiled mind and conscience are the filters we have from our unsubstantiated beliefs and negative experiences. The word defiled is the Greek miaino, which means “to stain, to tinge or dye with another color,” as in the staining of a glass, hence, “to pollute, contaminate, and soil.”

The word unbelieving is the Greek apistos which means to be or act “untrustworthy”  not worthy of confidence or belief toward God, His Word, and leading of the Holy Spirit. The mind refers to the Greek nous, speaking generally of the faculties of perception and understanding that determines our feeling, judging and determining. These posts on social media are a result of flimsy and faulty theology by erroneous teaching that has shaped how we believe and consequently behave. This is deeply seated in our conscious which is the Greek syneidesis, the soul as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad, prompting to do the former and shun the latter, commending one, condemning the other.

A person’s spirit can be born again but that soul is in need of a lot of evolving development. You don’t have to jump on every trendy event that occurs in society. Exercise some tact, decorum, dignity, and integrity. Proverbs 29:11 says “A fool utters all his mind but a wise man keeps it in until afterwards.” A fool is the Hebrew keciyl , which is a “stupid fellow, dullard, simpleton, arrogant one.” Pardon me, I’m just having an afterwards moment if you uttered all your mind!

            First Corinthians 14:26 says “Let all things be done unto edifying.” The word edify is the word oikodome in Greek and it means the act of building up, one who promotes the spiritual growth of another. And then we have the root word edify which means promoting the spiritual growth and development of character of believers, by teaching or by example, suggesting such spiritual progress as the result of patient labor.

  First Corinthians 14:12 indicates that spiritual gifts in operation should serve the purpose of edifying believers throughout the Body of Christ and we should excel in edifying. The word excel is perisseuo in Greek which means to superabound in quantity and quality, to furnish one richly so he has abundance. It is metaphoric of a flower going from a bud to full bloom.

            Now that we have a clear understanding on what it means to edify, can you evaluate many of the hundreds or thousands of church services you have attended throughout your lifetime concluding that the majority of those services you left built you up or beat you down? Of course, I am inclined to believe that your answer will lean more toward the latter than the former. I say that from a theological as well as an experiential standpoint. When you have spent most of your life in church hearing law based preaching that damns, dooms, judges and condemns, when you are told how terrible you are, worthless, and a good for nothing sinner, you are on your way to hell as a believer in Jesus Christ, I’m willing to bet my bottom dollar you left church services for years feeling beat down than built up. When preaching content isn’t biblically sound, repetitious and out of context, you become weaker not stronger, you feel hopeless than hopeful, you feel despondent than delightful, you feel excluded than included, you felt hated by God than loved by God and going to church was like arriving each week to take a beating by the angry preacher. This is in fact spiritual child abuse where you were verbally abused in the name of God!

            Paul the Apostle made a declaration in First Corinthians 10:23 that “…all things are lawful, but all things edify not.” There are messages that are preached and taught, songs that are sang, exhortations that are given, fellowship that has transpired, has not always been for your spiritual benefit that caused you to grow and develop as a believer in your walk with the Lord. You were given poor examples and therefore you had a spiritual regress than spiritual progress. There are some words spoken and deeds done in a worship service that are totally unnecessary that serves no benefit to those in attendance that needs to come to a screeching halt. Our focus must be on the spiritual essentials. Whenever we gather at a physical sanctuary or some other means of meeting whether it be virtual or just some fellowship where believers gather, there should be some building up! Your spirit, mind, and physical body should experience the effects of the Holy Spirit performing His transformative work in your life while you are receiving the truth of the Word of God, which is the Gospel of Grace, Acts 20:32 says “…the Word of His Grace, which is able to build you up.” Grace is a builder up of believers. Grace is like a Bounty Paper Towels, He’s a Quicker Picker Upper! Jesus is Grace and Grace is Jesus! Grace is the inexhaustible supply of the goodness of God where He does for us what we are absolutely incapable of doing for ourselves.

            Let all things be done unto edifying. Remember, the pulpit is not a judge’s bench neither is it the prosecuting attorney’s table in the courtroom, but rather the pulpit should be the defense attorney’s table with grace to defend the believer against the prosecution of the law against the judge and jury of religion. Grace is your public defender!

In my devotional time this morning, I noticed a recurring theme in the epistles of the Apostles James, Peter and Paul. These three men are writing believers that are “scattered” throughout many parts of Europe and Asia. The word scattered is the Greek word diaspora, which means dispersion. This refers particularly to the Jews and Gentile believers who were among foreign nations because of the persecution they experienced as a result of their conversion experience and commitment to the Gospel that contradicted many of their previous cultural and religious beliefs.

It’s interesting to note how these believers were contacted and connected with each other in various locations undisclosed in many cases to prevent further persecution. They found a way to identify that they were disciples of Jesus and more importantly they needed to be encouraged in their faith because out of comfort and convenience many wanted to revert back to Judaism and pagan traditions they were derived from. The Apostles found a way to reach out to them via correspondence by writing some of most profound truths we read in New Testament scripture that impacts many of us centuries upon centuries later.

We must put the blame where it belongs. Who is leading the persecution? Government and religious systems. As I was reading through these Epistles I see a parallel among 21^st century believers that are often persecuted through their government and religious systems that work hand in glove to limit, restrict, incarcerate and keep their thumb on those who are experiencing liberty in Christ manifested by the grace of God. There are believers who are scattered throughout the globe who are exiles from the trappings of churches, denominations, false teachers and teaching as well manipulative leadership involved in financial racketeering functioning like the mafia that hasn’t served beneficially to many of these believers spiritual lives and they have been forced out of many places because they do fit and do not belong because true Apostolic leaders have failed to remove themselves from these systems as well to shepherd those who are scattered as James, Peter, and Paul.

Of course, the benefit of believers being scattered as the book of Acts indicates is that they went everywhere preaching the Word. When many Jews were born again, they became landlocked and only preached to other Jews the gospel and did not reach beyond their own lands, borders, and culture with grace based truth who were not Jewish. So the persecution created progress for the gospel’s sake.

We are experiencing another Apostolic Diaspora and it is incumbent upon us as true Apostolic leaders to reach to those scattered within in our communities, cities, states, countries and continents who need to receive the graced based truth of the gospel. It is the desire of the Father to unite His people, the sheep of His pasture under the banner of His Son, Jesus, who is our Christ. Leaders, make your move! May we use every resource the Lord has availed for our disposal for the Diaspora!

Let me impose these two questions: Have you given someone a compliment today? Have you received a compliment today?

Mark Twain once said “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”

When it comes to PURUSING A DREAM, ACHIEVING A GOAL, OR ACCOMPLISHING A TASK, compliments often give you the assurance that you are on the right track and that you are reaching your maximum and optimal potential in any field of endeavor.

In order to know what a compliment is, we have to know what a compliment is not. A compliment is not just saying kind words of pity to someone because you don’t want to hurt their feelings or break their spirit if they’re not good at doing something, that’s flattery, and King Solomon warned us in Proverbs 29:5 “A man that flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.” Flattery sets people up to fail rather than to succeed. A compliment is not mere flattery, but it is a recognition of raw ability in an individual’s life that can be chiseled into a fine work of art.

A compliment is a polite expression of praise or admiration that will boost a person’s morale.

Confidence is a feeling of self-assurance arising from one’s own appreciation of abilities or qualities.

I do believe that compliments alone should not provide anyone confidence, but they are in fact designed to reinforce confidence already existent and discovered in the life of an individual. Compliments build confidence not create confidence.

A compliment encourages you to follow through on some project you are currently engaged in. This is because the provider of the compliment has raised your level of awareness and expectation concerning your abilities.

Let me leave you with Three Benefits of Offering Compliments:

#1. COMPLIMENTS WILL BENEFIT OTHERS-We remind people of their value and talents and that they are noticed and known for their distinctive individualized qualities, because you will always be known for your difference.

#2. COMPLIMENTS BENEFIT YOURSELF-Compliments are self-revealing, it gives others an opportunity to discern what you really think about other people, that you can celebrate someone else’s accomplishments knowing it doesn’t take anything away from you. It forces us to think less of ourselves and more about the other person and we will experience the law of reciprocity, if you can give a compliment, certainly you will receive one. You remind yourself of the power of your own words and how they have a long lasting and life changing effect in other people’s lives.

#3. COMPLIMENTS BENEFIT YOUR ENVIRONMENT-Fostering a culture of encouragement and empowerment in our social and spiritual circles challenge others to be and to do their absolute best and it is quite contagious. And the world around us begins to change because we change the lives of others with compliments that builds confidence.

Mark Twain also said, “I have been complimented many times and they always embarrass me, I always feel that they have not said enough.”